Thanks Mrs CP,

That material is what I have been calling Banded Black Fluorite. I get it in one location by the bucket loads. I always thought it was fluorite because it was softer than I would expect from Quartz. I will have to do some more checking and see if maybe I was wrong. Hope you can do something nice with it. I can always get you some more. Later, Woody.

Back from my hunting vacation.

I had an excellent week in the western mountains of Colorado. My two brothers and myself drove two hours on ATVs and set up hunting camp in a real nice, remote area. Just being far away from all the hassles and grind of the day to day normal life makes this time of year a pleasure. It is truly the peak of my year. I did harvest an Elk, but the success of the hunt was measured in so many different ways. I could go on and on about the entire week but will end by saying it was all that I could hope it to be and post up a few pictures of the adventure. Have a good one, Woody.


The first pic shows the 4 Wheeler all packed up and ready to head out to start the trip.

The second pic was home for 8 days. It rained almost every day but dried out nicely by noon.

The next pic is one I took on opening morning as I hiked up the hill. So much area that I had to cover but I knew I had several days so I did not have to rush anything. My camp was somewhere down below and the view from up here was outstanding. The second pic shows how much the landscape can change. It can go from high mountain slide rock to cedars and sagebrush in just a short while.

Here are a few pics of some of the critters I met along the way.

-A Cricket, This type can be a real problem in some areas. It is called a Mormon Cricket.
-A Moth that is tailored made for the Aspens.
-A wasps nest, they are quit common up here. I have never seen one like this on the side of a tree before.

Here is a rather unfortunate spider. It was on the inside of our tent and when I tried to move it to the outside it dropped to the floor and hundreds of tiny babies started to scatter. It looked like ripples on water. I say unfortunate because at that point, they all had to go.

Here is the pic of my Elk. It was the biggest Cow I have ever shot. It was right before dark and the next morning I spent a long time packing it out.

The last pic shows a storm coming in one evening. It looks like a waterfall from the heavens complete with mood lighting.

Woody,
Congratulations on the huge cow!!
Excellent pics and really good to hear that your annual trip was a success on many levels.
These are the good ole days!

Weekend Prospecting,

Headed up north again this weekend and did a little poking around. Did not spend much time processing material but rather did some research on foot surveying the place. It took me the better part of the day to be satisfied with what I was doing. The drainage I was looking in has very little to no water. I have been doing some work in the high end of it and must hand carry my buckets a short distance to the wheelbarrow, then it is about a ¼ mile hike to the creek. I need to look seriously at getting or making some kind of recirculation highbanker system. For the rest of the year however I have conceded that I will just have to be content to be a Mule.

I managed to find time to run 8 buckets of unscreened dirt through my sluice. The first two buckets were from the same spot I was working before and showed fair color and nice large Garnets.

The next two buckets came from a new test hole. I took this sample from about 20 inches below the ground surface. I found no garnets of any size and absolutely no color at all.

I went back to my first spot and took two more buckets. This time I made an effort to make sure all material came from deeper than the normal layer of material I was working in. Again, Zilch! Nothing! No color and no sizable Garnets.

I then took my last two buckets from only an inch or so below the surface. Immediately I found nice sized garnets and color.

All in all I really didn’t find much in the way of color but when you consider that it all came from only 4 unscreened buckets then I was very satisfied with the results. Also I determined that it was not necessary to dig any deeper than just a few inches down and will use this information to the full extent as I continue to work the location. I’ll be back as soon as I can and will let you know how it goes, Woody.

Getting ready for the night, just had to make a little bite to eat first.

Here was this nights sleeping arrangements. Aspen looks like she is going to try to take up all the room for herself. It got fairly cold and there was some frost on the ground when I got up at daybreak. Winter is just around the coner.

Here is a pic of the Garnets and gold. Nothing great but not too bad for just a few buckets.

Great Garnets and gold Woody! Looks like you found a sweet spot. Your dog Aspen is beautiful and she looks like she really enjoys the outings with you.

You and those nasty spider stories Woody! Better in your tent than mine though.

I did a hardness test on that piece and the darker is definately quartz, but the over coating is softer. Im thinking the softer coating is Microcline. I won't be working this piece other than to clean it up a bit more. I love the crystal points, which also indicates it's a quartz crystal.

Now to figure out if its an Epimorph or a Perimorph.... I always get them confused.

Ah yes! Epi or Peri the age old question.


I'm going to leave that to you because that is above my pay-grade of thinking. I get it from an area that has it in abundance. It occures in thin streaks or lines mixed in with the matrex. Occasionally it also has some purple hues to it. I mentioned to Dan that I would send you some pictures of some of my better specimens. The next time we meet, I will set you guys up with some better pieces. Have a good one, woody.

Thanks Woody, that sounds great!!